Versatile HSS combo for Music Man Silhouette Special

[AnnunakiMassacr]

I'm looking at going for something a bit different in this guitar. I've primarily been a dual-humbucker player up until now. But I bagged a good deal on a Music Man Silhouette Special.

Sound wise: even though the woods are alder/maple/ebony, the guitar itself sounds quite warm. Unplugged, the low end seems spongy, ans the highs seem fairly rounded. Plugged in, I just find the pickups boring. They seem to have no liveliness to them. Just dull.

I have my vintage to modern tones covered with a Riff Raff/Mule combo in one guitar, and a set of Rebel Yells in another. So for this guitar, I want it to be like a session guitar.

For the single-coils, I'm looking for a nice bright and lively tone. Something which sounds fantastic clean, and is capable of playing strummed rhythms without getting too bold. Also nice for the Hendrix-y hammer ons when playing chords. This is basically my only single coil loaded guitar, so looking for something that really shows this off. I was thinking Mother's Milk?

For the bridge, I'm looking for a nice vintage sounding humbucker and was thinking a Mule might be cool? I noticed this combo in the shop for HSS, so it must balance well? I'm looking for something extremely versatile which plays the classics brilliantly. This isn't a metal guitar, so not after output.  I was thinking this would be good for using with 280k pots?

What do people think?

P.S. Does anyone know a great place for buying pick guard blanks or Music Man Silhouette ones?

[Telerocker]

If you want a good split on the second position I would go a little higher output for the humbucker, like the Abraxas. If that's not required you could try a Mule.
Mother's Milk do have this vintage woody sound. The neckpickup has a great early sixties vibe and keeps clarity with loads of gain. They're a glassier and a tad leaner (in the bass especially) than Irish Tours, which get close to Mother's Milk if you back down the guitars volumepot.

[AnnunakiMassacr]

Ben emailed me back not too long ago saying I should try the VHII/Irish Tour combo. Was a littlebitof a shock as I never considered the VHII.

I was originally thinking the Irish Tours, but I was scared the output would cause you to loose the glassy strumming sound, instead being a bit to bold. End of the day I know basically zero about single coils, so I don't really know what to look for in terms of EQ, etc.

How do you like the Irish Tours yourself?

[Telerocker]

I have the VHII in an ash HSS Fender Am. Series strat, paired with Mother's Milks. My other MXG custom strat (swampash, exotic top, ebony board, handmade by Patrick Eggle) has a Crawler/Irish Tour-combo. For versality the latter guitar is my favourite as it can cover a lot of ground and the Crawler splits very well. Decent quack on the second position. The IT's are perfect in that guitar. They sound fuller than MM's: more bass, a tad more midrange and a little less highs, yet still vintage, woody and sparkling. They handle gain very good too. The VHII is a great rockpickup with nearly no compression, so a lot of pickattack. It screams when you dig in. It's a very focussed and a little dry (compared to the Crawler)  pickup that I would not call the best bridgehumbucker for all purposes. It excells in rock and hardrock. For blues, classic rock and big cleans I prefer the Crawler.

[AnnunakiMassacr]

Well that's put me off the VHII quite a bit.

Is the Crawler really as dark as people make it out to be? What's it's lead tone like?

[Telerocker]

Well that's put me off the VHII quite a bit.

Is the Crawler really as dark as people make it out to be? What's it's lead tone like?

It has a big sound, due to the pronounced midrange from low to highmids, but it has good treble too, in a pleasant round way. It can bite if you turn up the presence/treble. It's absolutely not a dull pickup. The leadtones are very satisfying: big creamy, present, fluid, not whimpy above the 12th fret. It growls like a bear when pushed, really like no other BKP. By the way, the Crawler has very good cleans too and split it has a nice tele-esque tone. Cleans up fine with the volumepot. Some prog.players prefer the Crawler over the Diver in their bolt on alder/ash-guitars. If you have an amp that's not dark the Crawler delivers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN84qcU1DHM

[AnnunakiMassacr]

I like that lead tone. I'm just a bit worried with my guitar having rounded highs and a spongy bass when played acoustically.

It's also deciding between Mothers Milk and Irish Tours :/

[AnnunakiMassacr]

What would you say about the Abraxas with 2 Mother's Milks?

[Telerocker]

The Crawler is a sort of uber-Mule, so a Mule or Abraxas (sits between the Mule and the Crawler tonewise) might do. The Mule is just not so good/to weak when it comes to splitted tones in combination with the middlesinglecoil. The Abraxas might be a good compromis/splits well too. It's has the vintage vibe going with less mids and a bit more chime than the Crawler. Another possibility is a Mississippi Queen in the bridge: classic P90 with chime, but a bold tone. You loose on splitted second position however.

[Telerocker]

What would you say about the Abraxas with 2 Mother's Milks?

That's a good combination for classic tones. Abraxas splits well too. I would not choose that one with 280k pots. That might get to warm. You can opt for the Suhr-wiring with a 500/550k pot for the bridge and 250k pots for the single coils.

[AnnunakiMassacr]

At the moment I only have 1 vol/1 tone, but I'm getting a pickguard made and I think I can fit 2 vol/1 tone. What value would I used for the tone? And do you have links to the wiring diagrams?

[Telerocker]

Just Google Suhr wiring diagram.

[AnnunakiMassacr]

I'm still at such a loss with this guitar. I keep going over different ideas and it's driving me crazy haha. I might postpone for a while nd see how my other pickups fare out